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Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

G8 agrees to halve emissions by 2050

The Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial nations have endorsed a reduction in global emissions of greenhouse gases by at least half by 2050, edging forward in the fight against climate change.

The deal, struck at a meeting on 8 July in Japan, also includes an agreement to set up mid-term targets, although no dates were set and no specific targets were decided upon. It would be up to individual countries to adopt the targets, the agreement says.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said that the EU’s “benchmark for success” at the summit has been achieved. He added that the EU will establish its own interim targets to reduce emissions by 2020.

Today’s deal paves the way for UN-led climate-change talks in Copenhagen in 2009.

“Now we need to go the extra mile to secure an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen that will enable the world’s nations to rise to this challenge together,” Barroso said.

The Copenhagen summit is due to set a framework for a deal to replace the Kyoto protocol when it expires in 2012.

However, Yasuo Fukada, Japanese prime minister said the agreement still needs the co-operation of major economies, principally of China, now the world’s biggest polluter, and India, which is also becoming a major emitter of greenhouse gases. He is set to call for their inclusion in the deal at a meeting due to take place in the margins of the G8 summit on 9 July.